Chapter Text
A note was left under the wiper blade of the van the next day. Hannibal wasn't quite sure how to feel about that, but he had asked for updates, so he really couldn't complain about how they were delivered. Especially since it was good news. After reading it over, he summarized it for his men.
"Bruised ribs, grazed by a bullet – that needed stitches, some shrapnel from the helicopter getting shot up. Nothing too serious. Surprisingly, nothing broken. Since the shrapnel wasn't clean, they're going to be hanging onto Murdock long enough to make sure there's no infection from any of it. Says he was more upset about his t-shirt being ruined."
"Sounds like the Fool. Anything else?"
"Not really. Just that they'll get in touch again when Murdock's released."
They all breathed a little easier after that. Two days later, the phone in Face's hotel room rang. When he heard Murdock's voice, Face was glad that Hannibal and B.A. were in their own room. He was pretty sure that if they hadn't been, he would never have heard the end of the teasing over his reaction.
"Murdock! How are you feeling? Are you getting out? How's Illya doing?"
The laughter over the line sounded good.
"Breathe, muchacho, breathe. How about you ask everything in person tomorrow night? All of us will meet up back where this all began – at Amintore's. You and the guys are all invited. Seven o'clock and ask for the Showers party. We'll be in a private room. It's kinda neat. Turns out the guys know the owner of the place."
"Um – sure. I'll let Hannibal and B.A. know."
"Great! See you tomorrow, Faceman."
B.A. felt a little leery of the invitation, but had to admit that Hannibal had a point when he mentioned all that Solo would have had to do was stall them until their reinforcements had arrived that day if he'd wanted them caught. Not to mention, he'd obviously remembered where they were staying. There was a dozen ways they could have been taken by now with relatively little trouble. There was no need to go to any sort of elaborate ruse.
Still it felt a little odd going into the restaurant. They got more than a couple of glares from people who were already waiting for a table when they were shown straight to the private room. The others were already around the table with gaps for the rest of the team. Mark waved Hannibal over to the seat between himself and Napoleon, B.A.'s spot was between Mark and April which left Face between Illya and Napoleon.
Most of the initial conversation revolved around updates on Illya and Murdock's health, but soon began to turn to other subjects. It took a little work on April's part, but she had a gift for loosening people up and she soon had B.A. telling her about his mother in Chicago. During a brief lull, Napoleon spoke up to get everyone's attention.
"I hope no-one minds, but after speaking with Amintore, we decided to have dinner served family-style."
"What does that mean?"
Illya gave a small chuckle at B.A.'s question.
"Unless the apple has fallen a long distance from the tree, it means that none of us will leave hungry."
"It also means that we'll be serving ourselves for the most part. I thought that might make conversation a bit easier if we weren't always having to guard what we say. Not to mention fewer interruptions."
Murdock must have mentioned preferences, because among the wine and tea delivered was a large icy pitcher of milk, quickly claimed by B.A. At his place, Face took a sip of the wine in his glass and was very impressed. While he couldn't give out years and names on wine, he did know good wine from bad. This particular wine was in the excellent category.
"Do you approve of the selection, Mister Peck?"
"Very much. Oh, and please? Just Face. I'm a lot more used to that than Mister Peck."
Conversation brought out how old Face had been when he joined up with Hannibal - and what year that was. Napoleon gave an almost imperceptable wince after he did the math and figured out he was around eighteen years older than Face. While he knew he was older, Napoleon had been thinking ten, possibly twelve years at most. Then he caught the smirk on Illya's face and realized the wince had not gone unnoticed. There were times he was tempted to strangle his partner.
He was distracted from that line of thought by Face himself. He found the young man to be both intensely curious and a connoisseur of the finer things in life. Face just didn't have enough experience under his belt to know what all of those finer things were. Having a partner with little interest in such things, Napoleon found himself rather enjoying playing the role of mentor.
Illya and Murdock were deep in a conversation and seemed to be shifting languages at whim which was getting them the occasional bemused look from April. She was mainly concentrating on drawing out B.A., who was frankly stunned that she'd been in Cambodia. Hannibal and Mark continued to talk easily between them, comparing everything from guns to women.
Getting another helping of tortellini, Hannibal noticed with amusement that the U.N.C.L.E. agents had divided up hosting duties as well as conversational ones. Napoleon and April were keeping drinks filled while Illya and Mark were passing along platters whenever a plate was getting close to empty. Conversation was flowing as easy as the food and drink - Hannibal couldn't recall the last time he'd felt so relaxed when it wasn't just himself and his men. The restaurant had closed to the public before any of them even realized the time.
"Much as I regret the evening coming to an end, I'm afraid the time has come."
"Oh Napoleon - it seems like we just got here. And when will I have the chance again to be the only female in a room with seven such eligible males?"
"You aren't going to convince anyone that you have trouble attracting men, Chiquita."
"Attracting men and attracting men that you want to attract are not the same thing, Howler my darling. Stand up so I can give you a proper hug. Well, as good as I can give without hurting your stitches."
The hug actually was a little bit painful for Murdock, but he wouldn't have told her for the world. He just hugged a little tighter himself as he whispered to her.
"You listen, twin - you ever need a damn good pilot, you better come looking for me."
"Always my first choice, Howler. Always. So? Were you telling the truth about Faceman?"
"Go test for yourself, April Showers."
They exchanged light kisses before April moved over to Face and held a hand out to him.
"And it was a distinct pleasure to meet the best friend of my pseudo-twin."
Automatically standing before taking her hand, Face smiled at her, starting to speak when she suddenly took hold of him and moved for a kiss. While still an older woman, she was one far more to Face's tastes and he returned the kiss in full measure while Mark and Hannibal exchanged looks.
"Care to bet how long before they come up for air, mate?"
"I don't know. Might be awhile. Face has had deep-sea training with SCUBA gear."
"So has April. We could be here awhile."
Illya just cast a glance over to his partner.
"You know? I think I am beginning to see how Miss DuBois made the mistake. You are both sliced from the same fabric."
"That's 'cut from the same cloth'. And maybe. Perhaps he's the one for the next generation."
"One per generation is probably the limit that the world can tolerate."
Any comeback to that was cutoff as Napoleon's communicator signaled. Napoleon moved away from the table to check in while April and Face finally came up for air. April and Face each seemed duly impressed with the other.
"If you two want to go for a record, April luv? Give me warning next time and I'll set a stopwatch."
"Oh hush, Mark."
Everyone stopped talking when Napoleon came back over.
"That rather settles it, folks. Duty calls. All four of us."
The remainder of the farewells was a bit rushed, but still managed to leave B.A. blushing a bit from April's kiss. As the A-Team climbed into their van, the U.N.C.L.E. agents gave a final wave before heading off themselves with a last call from Illya.
"Until we meet again, comrades."
Face waved back before settling down into his seat.
"Until we meet again - do you think we will meet again?'
"Don't see why not, best buddy of mine. It's a small world."
"You start singin' that song, I'm gonna come back there and hurt you."
"Settle down, men. Murdock's right though, Face. Always a chance."
With the other group, April was musing about the same thing as Face when Illya gave her arm a pat.
"This was the third time you have run across Murdock, yes? Three times makes a habit. You will see him again."